Meet Our Award Winning Chef - Gary Phillips

Head Chef Gary Phillips has been with us at Kilcamb Lodge for ten years. During this time he has been the driving force behind the development of our new Driftwood Brasserie. His talent has been cultivated and developed since his arrival when he secured 3 AA Rosettes for Kilcamb and achieved recommendation in the esteemed Michelin Guide, in just four months. Gary is now heading and mentoring his team to ever better and more exciting dishes and menus for our expanding and popular restaurants.

The History

His career began in 2000 as a young Commis Chef but his contagious enthusiasm, skill and love for food soon catapulted him to the level of Sous Chef in just four years. This was quickly followed by a further appointment as Sous Chef at Loch Green Hotel in Troon, under the guiding hand of 3 AA Rosette Chef, William Pike with whom Gary forged a friendship which endures to this day.

Under this fruitful partnership Gary was soon ready for his first Head Chef position in 2005.

This appointment was not easy; he was challenged with the job of transforming a loss-making business into a profitable one, taking the restaurant from a few covers a day to 2500 a week in just 4 years. His mantra is freshness and flavour - the winning combination that works on any level and in any kitchen.

and today...

In 2008 Gary found his way to our door and we did not hesitate to offer him the Head Chef position at Kilcamb Lodge. He has helped us to transform and develop our menus and our restaurants. This has enabled us to keep pace with new trends in today's ever changing restaurant scene, whilst nurturing and enhancing the Country House dining elegance for which Kilcamb Lodge is so famous. His food is always singled out for special praise, from a simple breakfast to fish and chips; elaborate wedding feasts to our delicious tasting menu with matching wine flights. Gary always delivers all important flavour and freshness with every dish. And it looks as beautiful as it tastes.

Highland Winter Wedding Exclusive Use

The Festive Season

Scottish Highland Summer

What a team at Kilcamb! We had the second of our now traditional Sunday lunches in the company of a friend who had particular dietary needs. The kitchen and table staff went out of their way to ensure we all got exactly the meal we each desired. It's easy to see why this hotel has three AA rosettes for its food. The three course Sunday lunch at £25 a head is unbeatable for both quality and value!

Reviewed Trip Advisor

Visited here for lunch over the Bank Holiday. What a lovely hotel with a brilliant lunch menu. Food was delicious and Staff were brilliant - quietly efficient but very friendly, making sure everything was just right. Definitely considering returning for a few days break in such…

Reviewed Trip Advisor

A beautiful location on the shores of Loch Sunart for an historic lodge, brought up to date with fantastic dining and lounge areas. Every single morsel of food I ate during my stay was absolutely delicious!

Reviewed Trip Advisor

My boyfriend and I spent two lovely nights at Kilcamb lodge. It is a beautiful and classy hotel. Friendly staff and excellent food. I’m vegan and they made a special menu for me. I really appreciated that they gave me so many food options!

Reviewed Trip Advisor

Food was amazing, everything was finished. My family and I enjoyed every part of our night, we were celebrating an 85th and 15th birthday. Wine selection was beautiful and service was always right there when you needed it. Thank you again for a wonderful night.

Reviewed Trip Advisor

We stayed 3 nights in the Kilcamb and we can hardly imagine a better hotel:Excellent dining and fine breakfast make it a very rewarding stay, especially as the staff is very personal and helpful.

Reviewed Trip Advisor

The staff here are really tremendous. They were very helpful via email in advance of our trip and gave us a very warm welcome on arrival. Then an elderly relative was taken ill whilst staying here and they could not have been more helpful. They handled the situation with great care, tact and kindness. It made a very stressful situation far more bearable. We had just stayed somewhere else in the Highlands where the staff just weren't up to scratch and I had wondered if it was hard to get great staff in this area. Nope, cos here they are. I suspect they're very well trained and looked after. I also noted one of the waiters dealing with some pretty unpleasant customers with great patience and politeness. The location is stunning and so peaceful. You could just sit and look out at the loch all day.

Reviewed Trip Advisor

We stayed two nights (6/12-13) in room 10 which was small and with a limited view, but an excellent, modern bath. That's the worst I have to note because the food, setting/common rooms, staff and location were excellent. The food (breakfast and dinner both days) was the best of our total trip- smoked haddock with poached egg and porridge (with a half-shot of scotch!) were standouts for breakfast and dinners were about as excellent as food can be. Excellent wine list as well. The wait staff were new (mostly from Czech Republic) but very kind and solicitous. An excellent location (take the car ferry!) for exploring castles and quick visit to Oban. Would enthusiastically return!

Reviewed Trip Advisor

We had a great stay at Kilcamb Lodge Hotel. The drive from Mallaig to Strontian was stunning. We received a warm welcome and were shown to our room which had a lovely view over the loch. We had a walk down by the loch before dinner - absolutely gorgeous scenery.

Reviewed Trip Advisor

There really aren't enough superlatives to describe our four day break at Kilcamb. As ever, the food was extremely good and the room (suite?) was superb, with a view over the loch. Our two Labradors seemed to enjoy themselves, although because of the time of year, we kept them…

Reviewed Trip Advisor

Visited 24/25 August had previously tried to book for a special birthday in April - so glad we decided to try again. Great location, amazing views, tremendous staff, room 5 nice sitting room, bedroom with most comfortable bed, good quality linen and towels, space in bathroom to lay out toiletries, good range of complimentary toiletries.

Reviewed Trip Advisor

I know this beautiful area of Scotland extremely well. Over the years I have stayed in all manner of different accommodations hereabouts. The Kilcamb is very comfortable, with a marvellous location. The staff are efficient, friendly and unobtrusive, and the food is truly special

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Closed until further notice

We’re sorry to say that, in the best interest of our guests, team and the wider community, we are now temporarily closed until further notice. If you have any questions, please call us on 01967 402257. Stay safe, from all the team at Kilcamb Lodge.